The author critically discusses Freud's conceptualization of the relations of consciousness, the preconscious, and the unconscious and demonstrates that the generation of consciousness cannot be explained by the mere addition of words and mental representations. He concludes that consciousness arises from the linkage of words and concepts in conceptual realms which yield specific content and meaning to what is experienced, whereas “preconscious” relates to a state in which presentations are without linguistic signs. On the other hand, “unconscious” (in the dynamic sense) indicates representations falling within the realms of concepts whose internal contents do not belong to them in terms of the individual's life history; such material may appear in consciousness with “false” names.